Chapter 35

Sonic struck down the grunt quickly, using a move that had been called the Ax Kick in some circles. He didn't really name his moves, and he didn't care if others named them. Right now, these bad guys were all that mattered - them, and their plans being stopped.

Sally looked at the grunt in front of her nervously, then told Nicole to hit his Golbat with a Psychic attack. Even in the short amount of time she had fought against these people, the computer-turned-Pokemon had strengthened incredibly.

"It's only a matter of time before Nicole reaches reaches her final stage," Paul murmured to Sonic. He let loose a Twister, sending the Croagunk in front of him spinning into its Trainer. "I think I'm getting close, too."

"We'll have to see," Sonic muttered. He looked over at Sally. "You doing all right?"

Sally nodded. "Yeah. It's just that this is so different from our normal attacks."

Sonic nodded in agreement. "Yeah - and this isn't Eggman we're fighting, either. This is some sort of crazy group that's trying to remake the world." He punched a grunt that was sneaking up behind him, causing the green-haired goon to fall backwards, unconscious. "Come on; we don't have that much time. I get the feeling that Maria knows this place better than she lets on."

Maria did seem to know more than she let on - even more than herself, in fact.

"I think that there are some stairs up ahead," she warned as they slipped past a wild Golbat.

"And there that are," Scarlet remarked, pointing to the area in front of them. "I wonder who carved those into the cave floor?"

Maria shrugged. "You may as well ask who designed the Mystery Dungeons that are scattered around the other side of the world."

Pika nodded in agreement.

The group ran up the stairs and found themselves in an area that looked like a large of people and Pokemon had gone through and dumped their trash in the room.

"What happened here?" Pika asked, horrified.

"It looks like...a lot of people slept here last night," Scarlet noted.

Maria nodded in agreement. She walked around the piles of trash and stopped at what seemed to be a torn up tent. "For some reason, whoever-it-was ran out of here fast. What could have scared them?"

Scarlet looked around and started to investigate that area of the cave, as did Zap and Pika. Maria, however, looked up at the cave ceiling. What she saw up there caused her to gasp in surprise.

"Guys, I think I see what scared the others," she called, pointing up at the ceiling. The others looked up and saw, as well.

There was a horde of Kabutops and Omastar on the ceiling.

Pika let out a groan. "Great! These guys again?"

Maria nodded. "However, it seems as though they aren't interested in us."

Scarlet's tails started to twist together. "Only one way to find out." Her tails started to spin like helicopter blades, and she flew up over to the ancient Pokemon on the ceiling.

"What are you guys doing up here?" Scarlet asked.

There was a low hiss from the Kabutops closest to her.

"O.K... Did you see what happened down below?"

"Kabuu. Kabutops."

Scarlet nodded, then came back down to the ground. Looking at Maria, she explained, "They actually weren't the cause of all this. The Pokemon were actually forced to move away from their usual territory because there were some Team Galactic members sleeping there." Scarlet motioned to the tunnel at the other end of the chamber. "They did see who did it, though."

"Who?" Pika asked.

"They said it was a pink Sandslash, a red Sandslash, and a yellow Vulpix with two tails," Scarlet stated. "Obviously, Amy, Knuckles, and Tails are way ahead of us."

"Then we'd better get moving," Maria remarked. "No use letting them get ahead of us."

Pika nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

The group ran into the next cave...and into a purple figure.

"Hey!" the purple figure exclaimed. "Watch it!"

"Sorry!" Maria replied, backing up. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

The purple figure grunted. "It's all right. I wasn't exactly watching, either." The creature looked the group over with its purple eyes, spotting Scarlet instantly. "Who're you, kid?"

"The name's Scarlet," Scarlet replied, frowning slightly as she looked the other figuer over.

The figure was a shade of purple that almost might be considered a light pink, with a darker purple on the tips of its dreadlocks. It was also wearing gloves that were like Knuckles' boxing gloves, but they left the index finger free. The figure - now that it's rather obvious that they were female - wore blue boots the color of Sally's footgear, as well as a dusk-blue vest and a belt of some kind, even though she wasn't wearing pants of any sort. Probably the strangest thing, though, was that one of her dreadlocks was completely robotic.

"And you are?" Scarlet inquired.

"The name's Julie-Su," the figure replied. "One of the Chaotix. Who're your friends, Scarlet?"

"I'm Maria, and this is Pika," Maria introduced. "We're heading up the mountain to fight Team Galactic." She looked Julie-Su over. "You wouldn't happen to know a Mobian Echidna, would you? Red fur, spikey knuckles, and Chaos abilities?"

Julie-Su let out a gasp. "You've seen Knuckles? Where?"

"He's on the mountain, somewhere up ahead with Tails and Amy," Scarlet explained. "Sonic, Sally, and Shadow are here, too."

"Along with Geoffrey and Finitivus, but we're not really counting them," Maria added.

Julie-Su let out a growl. "Finitivus!" she roared. "Where is that no good Mobian?!"

"He's stuck in human form, and goes by the name of Charon," Maria explained. "Knuckles was the one who figured it out. They're probably somewhere up ahead - maybe even at the summit by now. Do you think you could give us a hand?"

The Mobian Echidna nodded vigorously. "My recent companion and I are going to give Finitivus a real hiding!"

A small, greenish ghost with a red necklace peered out from behind Julie-Su.

"A Misdrevus!" Maria identified, getting down to the height the Pokemon had chosen to levitate at.

"I call her Maggie," Julie-Su explained. "She's kinda shy, but she's really powerful, too."

Maria nodded. "I can believe that." She got back up to her full height. "Let's keep moving; there's still a lot of ground to cover." She then walked over to a set of stairs, careful to avoid the areas where Medicham were meditating and the occasional Golbat was taking a nap. The others quickly followed.

As they reached the other side of the cave, Zap took note of something on the ground and ran over to investigate.

"Pachi Pachi!" he called.

Maria frowned. "That's pretty weird," she noted. She got closer to the ground, inspecting the holes Zap had found. "These aren't naturally made."

"No, they aren't," agreed a familiar voice. Heads turned as Looker approached with Tox. "Team Galactic members were camping here overnight." He motioned to a hole in the cave wall, where there were pieces if what looked like a mural scattered around. "It looks like they had to destroy a mural before they got here."

Maria ran over to get a closer look. Picking up one of the pieces, she looked over the destroyed surface carefully. "It looks like...the Legendary Pokemon. The ones I first ran into. Except that, instead of Darkrai, Cresselia, or Manaphy, they have one of the others..." The Trainer looked over at Looker. "Have you tried to go any deeper?"

Looker shook his head. "The atmosphere seems different in there. Almost...foreboding. It's telling me I'm not supposed to be the one to go up there."

Julie-Su frowned. "How does that make any sense?"

"All it means is that we're the ones who are supposed to take Team Galactic down," Maria explained calmly. She looked into the hole in the wall. "I suspect that this leads up to the summit. Let's get going."

Looker reached into his trench coat. "Before you go, I think you should have this." He pulled out a light blue, diamond-cut gem.

Julie-Su let out a gasp. "A Chaos Emerald!"

Looker nodded. "I found it buried in the dirt in the area. I think one of the grunts may have dropped it."

"If they had this one, they may have others," Maria remarked, taking the gem and placing it in her backpack. "Let's hurry before they actually try and use them."

Scarlet and Julie-Su nodded in agreement, then ran through the "doorway" in the wall, Maria, Pika, Zap, and Maggie not far behind. They instantly ran into a grunt.

"We've been assigned to utterly destroy anyone who interferes, and you fit the bill, kid!" she declared. "Go, Beautifly!"

"Star, take the stage!" Maria exclaimed. "Use Aerial Ace!"

The Bug-Type fainted instantly.

The grunt shook her head in shock, backing up until she hit the wall. "I will not accept this; I will not accept this!"

"You have to; it's been done," Maria growled in reply. She ran deeper in and came across the next grunt.

"It's our time now!" he declared. "Bronzor!"

"Machoke! Knock 'em into next week!"

Machoke laughed in response, then rammed into the Steel/Psychic-Type and used Submission on it, knocking it unconscious and into the nearby cave wall.

As the grunt collapsed, defeated, Maria ran past, saying, "It was never your time."

The group then emerged from the cave and entered a snowstorm.

"Now I see why you told Tails that he couldn't fly his plane up here," Scarlet remarked.

Maria nodded and started looking around as Pika disappeared into her backpack. "Come on; we've got to find a way back inside and pick up on the trail of grunts again. Let's go." She ran into the snow, Scarlet and Julie-Su not far behind.

Maria screeched to a halt in front of a large boulder. She then released Machoke from it's ball and stated, "Use Strength to roll it out of the way. But not down the mountain - we don't want to cause an avalanche."

The Fighting-Type nodded, then pushed the boulder forward until the pathway was clear, leaving the giant rock sitting about a yard away from the cliff.

Maria nodded in approval. "Good job, Machoke. Return."

"You look like a woman on a mission," Julie-Su remarked.

"If Team Galactic isn't stopped, their leader could remake a world where we won't exist," Maria replied. "A world without spirit is bad enough."

The echidna flinched. "Remake the world? That sounds like something Eggman would come up with."

"I think it's much worse than that," Maria replied. She ran up a set of carved stairs and avoid some patches of grass, where a family of Snover and Abomasnow were playing. "Think of a world filled with people who act like robots, and never get to know anything different. And then there's one guy who everyone's programmed to worship as a god, all because he recreated the world. Eggman's a step below that, because there's always a chance with him to free everyone. If Cyrus succeeds, there won't be anyone left to stop him."

Scarlet frowned. "That is pretty bad."

"Now you see why I'm running and trying to follow the trail of grunts; the sooner we get to the summit, the better."

They found a cave at the end of the area of grass, hidden in a cave wall. Not very far in, they found another grunt.

"We're going to turn back time!" he declared, releasing a Dustox. "To a time and place with no Pokemon!"

"I don't think so!" Maria barked in reply. Something about what he'd said sounded familiar, and it made her uneasy. "Star, take it out!"

The Staraptor actually took out two Dustox, and switched with Jirachi a moment later when the grunt brought out a Golbat. One Zen Headbutt later, and Maria was moving onto the next grunt.

"Team Galactic is all-powerful!" the next grunt exclaimed as he released a Stunky. "Only a fool would show defiance to the mighty might of Team Galactic!"

Maria let out a short bark of a laugh as she let Luke go loose on the opponent Pokemon. "A fool, huh?" She gained a twisted grin as Luke took out the Stunky, then switched him for Jirachi as the grunt tried to take her out with a Golbat.

Maria's POV

I shook my head as Jirachi downed the Golbat with a Zen Headbutt, then returned the Legendary as the Galactic goon fell back, shocked that I'd managed to take him out. "If only fools will stand up to you, I guess we're pretty dumb, then."

The words felt odd in my mouth, almost as though I'd spoken them before to someone before, but couldn't remember to whom or where. I also didn't know how I knew where to go. But I did, so I just rolled with the punches.

We went back outside this time through a different entrance. I could tell we were getting closer to the summit, because of this feeling in my gut that had started to develop. Almost mindlessly, I found the next cave entrance and led Scarlet and Julie-Su inside. The grunts we ran into were pummeled to the ground easily.

I looked around after beating the last grunt, who was now sniffling and sitting on the ground.

"This cave's a dead end," I muttered. "They gave us a false lead."

I should've remembered that.

I blinked when I heard the voice in my mind, then shook my head and started back towards the cave entrance, leading everyone else back outside. Almost instantly, I was able to see where the proper path was, and we were heading into another cave.

We stepped inside and ran up a slope that might have been stairs at some time.

"Our boss is doing something big at the summit," a female grunt muttered. "And you're ruining the atmosphere. Lose quickly, all right?"

I chuckled. "Depends on whether or not you out up a fight," I remarked. "Luke, use Force Palm!"

"Bronzor, Safeguard!" the grunt exclaimed, panicking. Didn't help, though. Her next Pokemon of choice was a Glameow, who Luke took care of even though it used Iron Defense.

Luke grinned at the grunt, then got into a familiar stance I knew too well. He then fired off an Aura Sphere that took out a nearby boulder.

"That's for trying to recreate the universe," he growled.

I grinned at the Pokemon. "Now you've become a true force to be reckoned with, Luke. Let's get the next guy."

The next grunt thought he could take out Leon with a Bronzor, but it didn't work out to his favor. Neither did the Golbat that Jirachi took out.

"What is it with the bad guys and Poison and Dark Types, anyway?" I asked as we continued on. "Team Rocket had Grimer and Koffing, then Houndour. Teams Aqua and Magma used Golbat, Carvanha, and Poocheyna. And these guys use Stunky and Golbat!"

Scarlet shrugged. "Maybe they think the Pokemon fit their image or something. Dim Sun used whatever Pokemon they could get their hands on."

We climbed a set of stairs, ran into a Chimecho, which I caught on instinct before we ran into another female grunt.

"You're almost to the summit," the grunt noted as she brought out a Golbat. "But I'm going to send you home!"

"We'll see who's going home!" I barked back. "Jirachi, take it out!"

The grunt let out a hiss as she switched out the fainted Pokemon for a Glameow; I switched to Machoke and had him knock the cat into Submission. Her last Pokemon - a Bronzor - quickly followed.

The grunt let out a growl as she returned the Pokemon to its ball. "How dare you," she growled. "Now, we're all going to be discarded and called useless."

"You're boss is ruthless, then," I noted.

The grunt glared at me before giving me a curt nod.

I looked back at Julie-Su and Scarlet. "Let's go. The summit's through there." I pointed to the hole in the cave wall just ahead of us. "You guys ready?"

The two nodded.

I glared at the cave exit. "Then let's go."

We made our way over to the door, only for someone to call, "Wait!"

We turned around to see Sonic, Sally, and the others run over to us.

"Let's step out there toge-" Knuckles started.

"Knuckles!" Julie-Su exclaimed, tackling that red echidna.

"Julie!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I thought the same about you," Julie-Su replied, looking into her boyfriend's eyes.

Sonic and Sally looked at each other, smiles on their faces.

"Save the mushy stuff for later, guys," Sonic said. "We've got to stop Cyrus, remember?"

The rest of the group nodded.

I cracked my knuckles. "Let's get that guy."

We all marched out of the cave...and onto a platform with a flute carved into it. We were on the summit.

Sally looked at the strange pillars that were ahead of us. "What is this place?"

I started drawing on what I knew from reading what archeologists had said, but then I blinked in surprise when I found there was more in my head than what I'd known before. "It's called Spear Pillar. According to the Sinnoh legends, this place was supposed to be the origin point for this world's creation. It's also one of the few places that the Legendary Pokemon connected to this region will appear at." I swallowed. "Cyrus must be planning something involving Dialga and Palkia."

"The Legendaries you know about?" Knuckles looked at me sharply.

I nodded. "Yeah. How is it that I didn't see the connection before? If you can control the Pokemon that can control time and space, you can warp the world however you see fit if you manage to get the Pokemon to unlock those abilities for you!"

"You will not get any farther!" A pair of grunts jumped out, blocking the stairs leading up to the main part of the ruins.

"I don't think so!" I glared up at them. "You guys go on ahead - try to stop whatever it is that Cyrus is planning! I'll take care of these two morons!"

"It'll be my pleasure," Vent growled. He sprinted ahead, Knuckles and the rest of the Mobians - including Scarlet - we're not far behind with their Pokemon.

"Something big's going to happen," one of the grunts told me as I approached them.

"And we don't want you to meddle around with it, either," the other added.

"That's why the two of us'll team up to take you down to the ground!" they said together. "Stunky, Dustox!"

Change in POV

Sonic screeched to a halt in front of Charon, who was standing next to an odd-looking machine that had bright red gems swirling around inside. "It's over, Finitivus!"

Charon gained a sinister grin. "On the contrary, it's only just the beginning!" He snapped his fingers, and a rather battered-looking, cyan-furred Lucario grabbed Sonic from behind.

"H-hey!" Sonic tried to get out of the Lucario's grip. "What do you think you're-" His eyes widened when he saw the same glazed-over look in the Lucario's eyes that Keith had had back in the Galactic Headquarters. Sonic turned sharply and glared at Charon. "Why you little-"

Piing!

Sonic flinched as something hit him in the chest, and the hedgehog suddenly went limp as the same glazed expression that the Lucario had took over his own face. At the same time, his fur started turning a deep, tar black.

"No!" Paul focused his energy in on himself, and he glowed briefly as he quickly grew larger, gaining a mane of feathers down his back. "Sonic!"

The other Pokemon let out their own cries of horror, and some started glowing as well, each reaching their own final evolution forms - even the Misdreavus.

Charon grinned. "I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about this." He hit the button on the remote multiple times, causing multiple gems to shoot out and pursue the Pokemon and remaining free Mobians...